Terrified

Blood in the Urine

LMD828,

Blood in the Urine only means it could be Kidney Cancer. Thats what happened to me in the Spring of 2002. Still here. From your post the CT confirmed it is probably Kidney Cancer. Been there done that. You also state that blood in the Urine means it could be late stage. For myself and most others may be does not mean it is late stage. Stage is determined by size and pathology after they take the Kidney out. Not fun, but again that was in 2002 when I was 59 years young. In order for us to respond appropriately what is the size of the suspected mass. It sounds like you will be meeting with a Urologist who specializes in Kidney Cancer to discuss surgery and your tentative prognosis. We have all been there and done that. There is not one of us on this board who was not scare sh--less when told we probably have Kidney Cancer. Many like myself have had no other tratment other than the initial surgery. Many on this board are doing well years later even where challanges have presented themselves. Not a fun way to start the holiday, but those of us on this board will help you get thru this.

 

Icemantoo

Welcome

I discovered my cancer the same way on May 1st 2013. Scarey aint the word! As far as I know blood in the urine is not connected to any stage - usually its kidney stones. At the moment there is nothing you can do but await further examination and diagnosis. 

First of all, enjoy the holidays - there is no point in worrying about things you dont know or cannot control. The word Cancer is so scarey that it removes all other words from the conversation. Donna is right : avoid Google it is either out of date or insane. If you want lots of medical information there is a good site called Smartpatients.

The word 'Cancer' sounds like a death sentence, but it is not anymore. Treatments are being developed all the time and it looks like it is rapidly turning into a chronic but treatable disease.

Good luck with your treatment, keep us informed. Dont panic and have a merry christmas. Let us know how you get on.

Sorry to Hear That

I agree with everything Ice and Donna have said.  I had non-visible blood in my urine and while it turned out I did, in fact have kidney cancer (chromophobe renal cell carcinoma to be precise), it was at a very early stage (1.5cm, which is a very small).  The lesion was found in late 2013, but I did not have surgery to remove it until June, 2016.  The urologist I had from Stanford felt it was premature to take it out, as some lesions of this size never develop into cancer.  Like you and your husband, when my wife and I first read the results of that initial CT scan, I was shaking with fear.  I called my sister, a nurse practioner (in child neurology, but still about the smartest person I've ever met) and she explained many of the same things the urologist would later explain to me.

In terms of treatment, there's a variety of methods.  Surgery is still the standard for treatment.  In my case, I had a robotic assisted laparoscopic partial nephrectomy (only the part of the kidney with the lesion is removed) and was in the hospital for about 23 hours in total (3PM surgery and 1:30PM release the next day).  I believe Iceman is the veteran of the group and had a radical nephrectomy (complete removal of the kidney) to address his problem.  Those are the two basic surgical methods and surgery has the highest success rates.  There are other less invasive procedures that depend on the size and location of the lesion, and on a patient's overall health.

But I can't stress enough to you that kidney cancer IS treatable.  Ice has been around 14 years since his diagnosis and by my admitedly rusty arithmetic skills is now 73 years of age and shows no signs of slowing down.  I'm 61 and I plan on being around for a heck of a lot longer and I plan on it being cancer free.

We'll all be here to help you through this situation.

Hi, LMD

What they've said about size, treatment, etc.  -- I ditto that. 

It's pretty hard for someone who's not a renal cancer specialist to look at a CT and know FOR SURE what they're looking at is renal cell carcinoma.  Even those who are specialists are just making (much) more educated guesses.  It's not a done-deal until the pathology report is back, after surgery. 

Blood in the urine may or may not have something to do with the mass on your husband's kidney.  I had blood in my urine from kidney stones which was what they went looking for when they found the mass on my kidney.  It was fortunate, or else I'd never had known.  Who knew I'd ever be grateful for kidney stones?

The good thing is, kidney masses typically don't grow like kudzu.  While I'm sure you heard "cancer" and thought, "PFFT!" that's not how kidney cancer works.  Also, most older adults have cysts in / on their kidneys, which have nothing to do with cancer.  They tend not to grow like kudzu either.  Don't cancel your Super Bowl party plans. 

I'm stunned that your husband's physician would call you mid-afternoon the last workday before Christmas to bestow his gift of "wisdom" and scare the two of you out of several years' growth.  When you're thinking a little clearer (Don't worry, you will be, even though it might not seem like it at the moment), perhaps a change of primary care physician is in order. It'll help to have people who are supportive on your care team (and, yes, because you're the spouse, you're part of the team). 

As for your kids, I'm sure you didn't raise them to be stupid. They're going to figure something's up, and you know them best, how much to tell, who will / won't freak out.  I did my best not to freak out friends and family when I didn't know the results. No teens were involved, but my explanation -- given first to my daughter -- went something like this...

Remember my kidney stones? As a follow-up, the doctor sent me to get a CT and when they looked at the image, they saw something on my kidney.  It might be something, it might be nothing -- nothing, like just a cyst. I'll go to see a specialist.  If it's nothing, it's no big deal.  If it's something, there's things they do to take care of it.  Right now, I'm kind of stressed because I like to know what it is and what exactly we're going to do about it.  But instead I get to wait. [Obviously you can change, delete, or add what you see fit if you see the need to let your kids know.]  And, of course, let your kids know how much you love them. Let them know that, if you're acting distracted or stressed, it's because you are.  Also let them know a couple of specific things maybe they could do to help out.  [Oh, and for the record, my daughter took the news way harder than I was... I'd sort of been suspecting "something" was there].

Right now, if your kids have questions, there aren't really too many answers you can give them.  But -- just like your questions -- bring their questions here, too.  We'll do our best. 

Hugs to you and yours,

Jerzy

Sorry for what you and your

Sorry for what you and your husband are going through, LMD. I too had my diagnosis around the Holidays. First I had to tell my children, but since I was so well informed, mostly due to this forum, I was not panicked so they weren't either. If I was okay, then they were in my case.

Too bad you had to be told today. But probablly your primary doc thought he was being upfront. Tells me he probably doesn't now much about kidney cancer. I would suggest you use your FAITH and continue LIVING, eacn and every day. You'll have more definitive answers soon enough.

In the meantime we're here for you and will walk this journey along side you..all the way!

Hugs to you and yours !

Jan

Blood urine and flank pain

Blood urine and flank pain are two main symptoms of both kidney stones and kidney cancer. None of them are related to stage or anything like that.  My tumor was 10 cm and i've been cancer free since the nephrectomy day. It was 28 months ago.you need to have more information about the tumor but it won't be befor surgery.

Wish you both best

Blood in the urine

Was my first "symptom" and I just had my right kidney removed Dec. 3rd. along with all the surrounding tissue. I had a "football" removed in total according to my surgeon. After testing, it was staged as 2- all margins clear. Blood in the urine definitely does not mean late stage. Good luck, try not to worry. Chancces are good he will have to have the kidney removed and then will be able to move on.